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Eric Peterson studied drama for two years at the University of Saskatchewan before finishing his degree at the University of British Columbia where he received a Bachelor of Arts in performance drama. He began his career on stage in 1971 when he was a co-founder of the Vancouver collective theatre company, Tamahnous Theatre. In 1974 he moved to Toronto and joined Theatre Passe Muraille. In 1976, Peterson collaborated with John MacLachlan Gray when he co-wrote and acted in his most critically-acclaimed stage play Billy Bishop Goes to War. The play premiered in Vancouver in 1978 and went on tour internationally, garnering positive reviews on Broadway and in London`s West End and was later made into a made-for-TV movie. Despite his stage work he was best known for his work on television, including his award-winning role of Leon Robinovitch, a left-wing lawyer, on the series Street Legal, as Judge Declan Malone on This is Wonderland, and on the hit CTV series Corner Gas where he played the role of Oscar Leroy, father of Brent Leroy, played by Brent Butt. In early 2008 it was announced that Peterson would receive ACTRA Toronto`s Award of Excellence. In October of 2009, Peterson was given the coveted Earle Grey Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 24th annual Gemini Awards. In 2011 he was named to The Order of Canada and received his medal at a ceremony in Ottawa in May of 2012. It was announced in 2018 that he would take on the Canadian courtroom again on a reboot of Street Legal, but befitting the passage of time from the original hit series, his character Leon Robinovitch has become a judge. Original cast member Cynthia Dale also returns in her role as Olivia Novak.
Also see: Street Legal: A First Look.
Features & TV Movies:
VR indicates Direct-to-Video Release
The Visitor (1974)
Billy Bishop Goes to War (TV-1982)
The Painted Door (1984)
The King of Friday Night (1985)
The Last Season (1986)
The Park Is Mine (TV-1986)
Thick as Thieves (1991)
Henry & Verlin (1994)
Deadly Love (TV-1995)
Bach’s Fight for Freedom (1995)
Spill (1996)
Captive Heart: The James Mink Story (TV-1996)
Dangerous Offender: The Marlene Moore Story (TV-1996)
I’ll Be Home for Christmas (TV-1997)
Sleeping Dogs Lie (1998)
Nothing Sacred (TV-1998)
The Sleep Room (1998)
Earth (1998)
Zack and Reba (1998)
The Moving of Sophia Myles (TV-2000)
Franklin’s Magic Christmas (voice, VR-2001)
A Colder Kind of Death (TV-2001)
Brigham City (2001)
A Wind at My Back Christmas (TV-2001)
The Many Trials of One Jane Doe (TV-2002)
The Stork Derby (TV-2002)
Fairytales and Pornography (2002)
Do or Die (TV-2003)
Jasper, Texas (TV-2003)
West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson (voice, 2011)
Billy Bishop Goes to War (2011)
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (TV-2012)
Cas & Dylan (2013)
Corner Gas: The Movie (2014)
Static (2015, short)
Where The Universe Sings: The Spiritual Journey of Lawren Harris (voice, TV-2016)
Valentine Ever After (TV-2016)
His Master’s Voice (2017)
Defining Moments (2018)
Claws of the Red Dragon (2019)
True: Friendship Day (TV-2020)
You Will Still Be Here Tomorrow (2020, short)
TV Series – Cast:
Ewoks (voice, 1985-1986)
Droids (voice, 1985)
Street Legal (1987-1994)
Lost Universe (1997)
Trudeau (2002, mini-series)
Corner Gas (2004-2009)
This Is Wonderland (2005-2006)
Trudeau II: Maverick in the Making (2005, mini-series)
The Best Laid Plans (2014, mini-series)
True and the Rainbow Kingdom (voice, 2017-2019)
Corner Gas Animated (voice, 2018-2021)
Street Legal (2018, mini-series)
Chapelwaite (2021)
TV Series – Guest appearances:
Night Heat (1988)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1988)
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1996)
PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal (1997)
Goosebumps (1997)
La Femme Nikita (1997)
Traders (1998)
Tom Stone (2001)
Street Time (2002)
Puppets Who Kill (2002)
Doc (2003)
Blue Murder (2004)
The Ron James Show (2009, 2012, 2014)
Republic Of Doyle (2010)
Murdoch Mysteries (2010)
Dan for Mayor (2011)
The Casting Room (2011)
Copper (2013)
Rookie Blue (2013)
Cracked (2013)
Young Drunk Punk (2015)
The Plateaus (2015)
What Would Sal Do? (2017)
Hard Rock Medical (2017, 2018)
Sydney to the Max (2019)
Street Legal (2019)
American Gods (2019)
Dino Dana (2020)
True: Terrific Tales (2020)
Private Eyes (2020)
Northernstars.ca is published by the Canadian Independent Visual
and Digital Media Association – A nonprofit corporation.
Toronto, Ontario, M4X 1X7
First published as Northernstars.net February 1, 1998
ISSN 2563 4895
